W.Va. Students Participate in Effort to Educate Next Generation of Entrepreneurs and Innovators

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February 23, 2007

CHARLESTON, W.Va. _ A group of fifth graders from six counties are learning the basics of entrepreneurship with lemonade stands at the Capitol.

The West Virginia Department of Education and Advantage Valley have joined together for EntrepreneurshipWeek USA in an effort to inspire, educate and encourage young people to consider entrepreneurship as a career choice.

A student fills cups with lemonade during an Entrepreneurship Week event at the Capitol.

The West Virginia Department of Education hosted The Lemonade Stand event on Monday, Feb. 26. The seven participating schools get to keep any profit made from selling lemonade to legislators, state workers and visitors to the Capitol.

Students from Ivy Dale Elementary in Clay County; Midway Elementary in Lincoln County; Weimer Elementary in Kanawha County; Point Pleasant Elementary in Mason County; Ramage Elementary in Boone County; Kellogg Elementary and Lady of Fatima, both Cabell County; participated in the event.

“Educating our young people about entrepreneurship and reinforcing the value that innovation brings to our economy is critical to America’s prosperity in the global society of the 21st century,” said state Superintendent Steve Paine. “This is just one more way we are helping West Virginia kids to compete in a fiercely competitive global world.”

Two students from Point Pleasant Elementary School in Mason County market their lemonade at the Capitol as part of an Entrepreneurship Week activity.

The Lemonade Stand project incorporates math, reading, composition, social studies and higher level thinking skills as students determine costs using various recipes and set the selling price. Students also developed a marketing plan, named their business, purchased lemonade ingredients, assigned tasks and wrote a final report detailing what they learned.

The Department of Education is a member of the Advantage Valley Entrepreneurship Development System Collaborative, a group of agencies in the greater Charleston-Huntington area working to promote and encourage entrepreneurship and business ownership as an economic development strategy.

The collaborative is joining others across the nation in celebrating Entrepreneurship Week USA Feb. 24 through March 3.

Other lemonade stands also will be set up at the Capitol the same day as part of Entrepreneurship Day at the Capitol, an event coordinated by Vision Shared, another of the collaborative partners.

For more information, contact Susan Rice, entrepreneurship coordinator for the West Virginia Department of Education, at (304) 558-3703 or the Communications Office at (304) 558-2699.